Leckie, Nabbout on target as Socceroos cruise past Czechs

Australia’s Socceroos recorded a morale-boosting 4-0 win over Czech Republic on Friday as they continue to build towards the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

In the first of their final warm-up friendlies before their June 16 Group C opener against France, the Socceroos produced a clinical display at the NV Arena that will be heartening to coach Bert van Marwijk.

But Nabbout showed he has plenty to offer Australia on the global stage, pouncing on a poor back header by Jakub Jugas and keeping his cool despite being confronted by Tomas Kalas to lash a shot into the bottom corner.

To be fair, the Czechs were not exactly covering themselves in glory and they left themselves exposed once again in the 72nd minute; Aaron Mooy leading the charge before feeding a pass to Leckie, who cut inside an opponent before firing past Tomas Koubek at the near post.

One of the big positives for Van Marwijk was the fact that his charges had no trouble finding goals without him having to turn to veteran star Tim Cahill, who barely was even required to get off the bench and warm up.

Just for good measure, Australia added a fourth with ten minutes remaining as Milos Degenek bombed forward before playing in a low cross that was diverted by Jugas into the back of his own net.

Full-time in Austria. @Socceroos beat Czech Republic 4-0. A solid performance from the Aussies in their first of two friendly games before their #WorldCup campaign gets underway. 💪🇦🇺 #AUSvCZE